Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Looking into buying my first chameleon and I have it narrowed down to a Panther, Carpet, or Flapneck. Any opinions on these as far as ease of care or which would be best for a first time chameleon owner?
thanks!-
Erica

Hi Erica...for sheer beauty I would go for the panther...someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I think flapnecks are mostly wild-caught...not a good choice[ if so ] Mind if I ask why not a veiled? They are inexpensive,always captive-born,not hard to care for and the males are stunning.

Yea the panthers are pretty and definately an option. I really like the colors of the carpets, I'm just worried their smaller size= harder to care for.
And veileds aren't an option bc i'm not a huge fan of the veils.... haha
thanks for the info about flapnecks- I definately don't want a wild caught.

Carpets are interesting little chams. There are a few cb carpets around but you'll have to search. I don't know if FLChams has any. Their smaller size won't necessarily make them harder to care for unless you can't get smaller sized feeders in your area. Might be more options for caging as many commercial screen cages are too small for panthers or veileds (IMHO). There is less known about their husbandry as not many of us have kept them. The bright colors of the females you tend to see online are gravid colors however. If this is a first cham I wouldn't suggest a female.

Yes, you are right...almost all flapnecks are wildcaught. They also come from a pretty broad range in the wild so figuring out just what climate any one particular one will prefer will be tricky. There is usually NO origin information available.

thanks everyone that's responding! all this info is really helpful =)